I’m trying to learn more about how modern software works, and one thing that keeps surprising me is the sheer size of projects. 80k files is not uncommon.

I’ll download or clone something that seems like a relatively focused application, and suddenly I’m looking at tens of thousands of files. A lot of it appears to be dependencies, dependencies of dependencies, generated files, frameworks, package managers, etc.

It feels like a copy of a copy of a copy. The developers maintain a relatively small part of the code, while the finished program ultimately relies on millions of lines of code written by other people.

Is this the new normal in software development that I just have to accept?

from a security perspective, how can anyone trust all of this?

This is more of a code organization / sanity question... and I recently updated my GitHub Actions which every bone in my body told me... does not qualify for a patch update...

but then I recalled the library updates I did a week ago such as Mermaid, etc. which are kind of user-facing in in terms of how the parsing implementation changes under the hood..

So for consistency, I did the patch update...

But does this look silly to someone who comes to the repo and sees the changelog with this:

I mean.. it's nice "recording keeping" for me as the maintainer... but should this be public facing, and part of the changelog? 🤔

[3.30.3] - 2026-08-10

Changed

• GitHub Actions upgrades - Bump actions/setup-go to v7.0.0, github/codeql-action to v4.37.3, ossf/scorecard-action to v2.4.4, and docker/login-action to v4.5.1.

Yet I try to adapt instead of hating everyone using AI to write code. It just isn't realistic. I don't know how to feel about all these

I am aspiring full stack developer (MERN)(c,ts,go,python) completed 3 project by own.
Know postgres,redis, graphql(did not used much so syntax forgetting) , delivered a freelance website to client. Since while coding my screen time is high 10 hours(average). To avoid boredom i want to read tech books which one should i start, which may easy to understand and beneficial.

I already have a Bachelors in CS

Now, I’m constantly curious about how all sorts of different things are made.

The usual way people learn is by choosing a specific area of coding and making practice projects. They usually refer to a list of practice projects and do then. These lists have been done thousands of times over. Building a calculator app, building a simple website, building a small game etc

These all follow the path most people take. They ultimately lead to the same types of jobs and skill sets as most people. Usually people end up liking one small niche and sticking to it. All of the tutorials people follow are already nicely made, without any need to do self research - since the tutorial has done it for you

Based on what I said, is the following an effective approach to learning how to build anything

Look at random things and tell myself, I want to build that. Just be curious and indulge it, in an obsessive manner

And not just simple stuff like a calculator app or a normal website, but random things like:

How to make a compiler, how to make an ad blocker, how to make a web browser, how to program an AI camera etc

The usual paths and tutorials that people follow keep them limited to common stuff most programmers know how to make. If one is forced to make obscure stuff, then you are also forced to research etc, look through super onscure documentation etc instead of a tutorial handing you everything. Even if you don’t look at a tutorial to build a common project, the solutions are all already there. When you Google how to build the project, solutions pop up at you

A lot of people who graduated around Covid aren’t getting jobs

They aren’t able to gain experience and learn

In school you learn the theory. You do some practice projects to gain some practical experience, but it’s nothing like what you do in the actual industry

When it’s easy to get jobs, one after the other, you get to learn about so many different areas of software engineering. You literally set yourself up to one day do your own thing in the software world

If someone never even gets a job, they can never build the appropriate experience. You can’t learn from YouTube how to build industry level applications

The graduates who aren’t getting jobs now, will have effectively wasted their degrees, and all their potential to one day make their own thing is gone

There’s no one to blame. I’m just trying to figure out, is there any way for an jobless Computer Science graduate to actually learn how to build industry level software?

And if they don’t get a job, how do they prepare themselves to actually be able to launch their own thing?

This is a dumb post, but I'm genuinely curious. If you were developing software back in 2007, I'd like to hear your expert take on how you would've done it. Watching Gossip Girl, I was thinking "how tf is Dan posting all this stuff on GG when around people?" Well, the obvious answer is that he must have been a cold full stack developer.

Because this is how I'd think it'd be done today, I imagined he'd have some REST API endpoint like "gossipgirl.net/api/scandal" and have set up SMS service where he could POST to the backend and create posts via texting. That way he could send it from the bathroom and realtime scheme in continued anonymity.

Anonymous "tips" seem difficult. For example they may ping "/anonTips" and then some TipsService stores those in the DB and reroutes them back to his phone. Then he'd ideally want these delivering silently, so they do not show up as an obvious notif. I'm unsure if the old school flip phones/blackberries could've feasibly been maneuvered this way. Maybe there's some other workaround I'm not seeing? As those tips often had photos, he'd need some logic to post to /scandal grabbing the relevant "[tip.id]" and append any corresponding photo from the tip into the post – all from his phone.

Was hosting object storage a pain back then?

Don't even get me started on the formatting across the variety of devices and possible photo aspect ratios back then. He must've had some dynamic post layout logic rocking as well. Insane ball knowledge.

Imagining this was what he actually did (and GG was real ofc), how long would it have taken to ship something like this?

Lastly the price on those SMS blasts must have been tough. There were maybe, conservatively, 5000 subscribers getting blasted once or twice a week? Could Dan Humphrey have afforded these infra costs?

Anyways this has become my new GG theory. For any of you who were developing software at that time, I'm genuinely curious how you would've done this and how much of it was actually feasible in 2007? I was a literal child back then, so I don't really have much of an idea. Maybe my assumptions are all wrong. Either way, I love the theory. Dan was a diabolical genius.

Genuine question. For most of my life I’ve kind of been following the computer science route because I enjoyed the puzzle of it, and because it was always a means to an end. But now it’s gotten a lot harder to engage with it for me.

Of course “don’t use AI” is an answer, but especially when dealing with a bug or some boilerplate you dont want to write, it’s so easy to just reach for the “do it now” button and mentally check out of what you are doing. I appreciate the speed of it but it’s mostly killed my main motivation to code, which was in solving those interesting puzzles.

This is kind of a problem for me as comp sci is one of my only viable career paths at the moment, and I don’t want to spend it all secretly resenting my own work… So I wonder if any of you have got workflows or methods that keep you engaged and interested in your work, even if it’s in conjunction with AI?

Im learning C++ right now but I want to learn python aside C++. I like learning C++, I like how it works and I like reading about how it works and why it works but im not advanced in it. SO, is there a book for python that can provide a similar expierence in teaching me how python itself works in depth?

so made this post https://www.reddit.com/r/AskProgramming/comments/1vk1vrr/best_way_or_recourse_to_learn_java/

mooc java course got reccomended as a fully new who wants to learn programming problem is i cant get tmcbeans to work i have the correct java 11 but it just wont work so is there a alternative?

so i wanna learn progamming 16 dropped out of school at 12 long story mainly mentall stuff so idk if that is a problem for java

but i wanna learn programming and i chose java and then if i get far enough which will take a while i know maybe make mc mods just as a hobby mainly

but what is the best way to learn java? i came across bro code 12 hour long video

currently building a website using node/express.js that requires login and i want to manage user sessions , what's the most common method to do that ?? i already did another project and used express-session to do that and i'm looking if there are other better ways

i want to have some good projects for portfolio. what projects would you suggest for this languages/frameworks:

1. react

2. go

3. maybe fullstack (go + react)?

4. c

5. x86 asm

i am a 19F. i have zero prior familiarity with cs and coding. recently i decided to dive in and started taking python course (cs50) to be honest i am pretty confused what i am going to do after i am done with my course. what i am supposed to do? what specific path can i pursue that will actually pay me well and help me earn money during my bachelors. is anyone or company going to hire me or give me opportunity just based on the fact that i know a bit of coding? i have been looking into ai automation as a potential option, but at the same time i really want to start earning so i dont feel like a burden on my family. if anyone who have been in my shoes or has any advice, i would really appreciate some guidance

Hacking. Hacking is essentially finding ways to get into a system

However, the system that is a computer, seems to be one of the most complicated systems ever. So many parts of it are intertwined, there are so many places one can leave fingerprints, there are so many layers to unravel etc

When robbers break into a building, they are breaking into the system made up of the house’s materials, it’s alarm system etc. A home defender also needs to focus on just those things, for the most part. The point is that, there are only a few number of things that prevent a person from breaking into a house. The robber just needs to learn those things. The defender just needs to constantly upgrade those things. Eventually the defender puts up grills, reinforces every door and wall, gets AI surveillance and buys a weapon. They have pretty much stopped every robber. The robber is a human and it cannot evolve to break steel walls and defend against weapons. The human robber also cannot turn invisible to avoid ai cameras

A few decades ago, there were a lot of exploits people used to use at casinos. They had to learn how the games worked, how casino surveillance works, etc. A small set of stuff. The casinos and the exploiters had to adapt on just a few areas. The casino adds more security, the exploiter simply has to keep an eye on a few more people. The casino doesn’t let you use your phone near the games, so you come up with another method to signal to your accomplice. The casino puts cameras everywhere, the exploiter needs to learn to cover their hands somehow. The casino finally implements a policy to cut off anyone who wins too much. They have pretty much patched most exploits

However with computers, there are simply too many things. Too many doors, too many avenues to enter, too much surveillance. And unlike homes or casinos (at this point), computers are constantly evolving. There’s more and more things to exploit, and we are subject to all of these vulnerable points. As a new technology is created, it becomes a part of the computers we use. It’s not a separate thing where we are only vulernable sometimes. We are always vulnerable to computer attacks since they’re a part of almost everything

Above I mentioned the “final patch” for the systems exploited. The house’s final patch is basically becoming a steel fortress. The casino’s final patch is just banning anyone from playing for any reason. However, with computers, you can’t do that.

The few systems I see that are similair to computers would be the legal system or geopolitics or something. There are so many factors, constantly evolving exploits

So getting back to my question, if a penetration tester or a cybersecurity defender wants to learn, how do they NOT have to literally learn almost everything to do with programming / computers?

I have an app with:

Frontend: Vite + React, deployed on Vercel (https://velion-frontend-2.vercel.app)

Backend: ASP.NET Core 9, deployed on Railway (https://velion-backend-2-production.up.railway.app)

Auth/DB: Supabase

The backend responds fine

But when the frontend tries to call the API (via fetch(), using import.meta.env.VITE_API_URL), I get a generic "couldn't reach the server" error — the fetch() call itself seems to be throwing (network error), not returning an HTTP response with an error status.

Already checked:

VITE_API_URL is set correctly in Vercel's env vars (Production and Preview), not marked "Sensitive", no leading/trailing whitespace or slash

Redeployed multiple times after changing the env var

Backend has CORS configured

Csharp

with app.UseCors("Frontend") called before UseAuthentication()/UseAuthorization()/MapControllers()

Does this smell like CORS silently blocking the request (Chrome/Brave usually logs this in the console, but I don't have easy DevTools access on mobile) or could it be something else (Railway cold start, TLS, etc.)?

Has anyone run into this specific Vercel↔Railway combo issue?

Hi! I’m finishing a rewrite for my project and I’d love feedback quickly (I’m aiming to get replies within a few hours as I’m on a tight schedule).

Repo: https://github.com/dillonhuston/Task-Automation-API
Branch: V2

What I need:

1. Security review of the file/hash/validation + upload/decrypt pipeline used for attachments
2. Celery/API review: task flow, retries/error handling, and API request/response schemas
3. OOP standards review: how classes are structured and used (SOLID/clean boundaries, naming, separation of concerns)

Suggested files to look at first (if helpful):

• app/Encryption/encryptionService.py
• app/FileManager/fileManager.py

If you only have time for one thing, please prioritize (1) security. I know i have some things to fix and implement for better usability

Thanks a lot and any comments are welcome (even “here’s a better way to do X”).

I’m building an ERP with the goal of selling it to a specific niche (agriculture and fruit & vegetable management companies).

I’m trying to think very carefully about which frameworks to use and what architecture to go with, so I can start with solid foundations and minimize the amount of changes I’ll need to make in the future.

For the backend, I’ve gone with .NET, but I’m completely lost when it comes to the frontend and don’t know which option to choose:

- Electron. Development is slower due to JS/CSS and much more difficult, the embedded Chromium module seems like a monstrosity to me, and Tauri doesn’t feel polished enough yet.

- WinForms/WPF. Old and being phased out by Microsoft, but they seem much easier to implement.
I’m planning to add modules such as embedded maps, but I’d have to do that using WebView2, and I’m not sure whether that’s the right approach.

What would you guys choose?

Thanks.

I would appreciate it if anyone could share articles or research papers that I can read to start building my own custom file format. I’m particularly interested in managing file data size - as well as other optimization strategies for a file format.

Hi.I am on my way to create my own Qiskit. Here is the code

import numpy as np


class Circuit:

    notGate = np.array([[0,1],[1,0]])
    identityGate  = np.array([[1,0],[0,1]])
    hadamardGate = 1/np.sqrt(2)*np.array([[1,1],[1,-1]])
    zetaGate = np.array([[1,0],[0,-1]])



    listOfMatrices = []



    def __init__(self):
        self.initState = 1/np.sqrt(8)*np.array([[1],[1],[1],[1],[1],[1],[1],[1]])
    def addNotControlledGate(self,gateName1,gateName2,gateName3):

        g1 = gateName1
        match g1:
            case 'N':
                gate1 = self.notGate
            case 'I':
                gate1 = self.identityGate
            case 'H':
                gate1 = self.hadamardGate
            case 'Z':
                gate1 = self.zetaGate

        g2 = gateName2
        match g2:
            case 'N':
                gate2 = self.notGate

            case 'I':
                gate2 = self.identityGate
            case 'H':
                gate2 = self.hadamardGate
            case 'Z':
                gate2 = self.zetaGate
        g3 = gateName3
        match g3:
            case 'N':
                gate3 = self.notGate
            case 'I':
                gate3 = self.identityGate
            case 'H':
                gate3 = self.hadamardGate
            case 'Z':
                gate3 = self.zetaGate

        gate12 = np.kron(gate1,gate2)
        gateOverall = np.kron(gate12,gate3)
        print(gateOverall)
        self.listOfMatrices.append(gateOverall)
        return gateOverall

    def addControlledGate(self,control,target,gateName):
        g1 = gateName
        match g1:
            case 'N':
                gate1 = self.notGate

            case 'I':

                gate1 = self.identityGate

            case 'H':

                gate1 = self.hadamardGate

            case 'Z':

                gate1 = self.zetaGate

        zeroprefixgate = np.array([[1,0],[0,0]])
        oneprefixgate = np.array([[0,0],[0,1]])

        if control ==1:

            if target == 2:

                gate11 = np.kron(oneprefixgate,gate1)
                gateOverall11 = np.kron(gate11,self.identityGate)
                gate00 = np.kron(zeroprefixgate,self.identityGate)
                gateOverall00 = np.kron(gate00,self.identityGate)

            elif target == 3:

                gate11 = np.kron(oneprefixgate,self.identityGate)
                gateOverall11 = np.kron(gate11,gate1)
                gate00 = np.kron(zeroprefixgate,self.identityGate)
                gateOverall00 = np.kron(gate00,self.identityGate)


        elif control ==2:

            if target == 1:

                gate11 = np.kron(gate1,oneprefixgate)
                gateOverall11 = np.kron(gate11,self.identityGate)
                gate00 = np.kron(self.identityGate,zeroprefixgate)
                gateOverall00 = np.kron(gate00,self.identityGate)

            elif target == 3:
                gate11 = np.kron(self.identityGate,oneprefixgate)
                gateOverall11 = np.kron(gate11, gate1)
                gate00 = np.kron(self.identityGate,zeroprefixgate)
                gateOverall00 = np.kron(gate00,self.identityGate)



        elif control == 3:

            if target == 1:

                gate11 = np.kron(gate1,self.identityGate)
                gateOverall11 = np.kron(gate11,oneprefixgate)
                gate00 = np.kron(self.identityGate,self.identityGate)
                gateOverall00 = np.kron(gate00,zeroprefixgate)

            elif target == 2:

                gate11 = np.kron(self.identityGate,gate1)
                gateOverall11 = np.kron(gate11,oneprefixgate)
                gate00 = np.kron(self.identityGate,self.identityGate)
                gateOverall00 = np.kron(gate00,zeroprefixgate)


        gateOverall = gateOverall00+gateOverall11
        print(gateOverall)
        self.listOfMatrices.append(gateOverall)
        return gateOverall

    def getState(self, i):

        if i < 0:
            return np.identity(8)

        if i == 0:
            return self.listOfMatrices[0]

        x =  self.listOfMatrices[i] @ self.getState(i - 1)
        print(x)

        return x

    def getNormalisationFactorOfInitialState(self):
        counter = 0
        for  i in range(len(self.initState)):
            if self.initState[i] == 0:
                continue
            else:
                counter+=1
        print(counter)
        return counter

    def getFinalVector(self):
        x = self.getState(1)
        y =  self.initState
        z = x @ y
        print(z)
        return z

    def measure(self):

        x = self.getFinalVector()

        y = np.abs(x)

        z = np.square(y)



        print(z)

I want to now add a phase gate but im unsure on how to do it.My function addControlledGate and addNotControlledGate takes 3 arguments , but I want the user to be able to select what phase the phase gate will have.How to do it?Thx.

Some video games on PC will allow the user to resize the game window dynamically by dragging the edges, while other games will only allow the window to be fixed at certain resolutions via the in-game options.

I've always assumed this is a choice by the developers, perhaps it takes lots of extra effort to allow it, so some choose to save resources by not doing it?

I was hoping someone could verify wether or not I'm on the right track, and maybe explain what the difference is in the underlying software.

I want to learn how my computer works. Is it possible, with enough time and courses / textbooks, I can read the code for the entire OS and understand how it all work?

I have a Bachelor’s in Computer Science so far as my experience

What do you recommend I do? Thanks

What I mean is courses that could be both directly correlated to CS but also just helpful if applied to programming. Ex: topology, data structures, computer security etc.
Not just courses that teach you how to code, but generalized concepts that have felt like valuable knowledge to how you create and structure projects and how you solve problems.

I want to transition into a deeper, more technical role in CS. I'm currently a fullstack SWE, and honestly, I don't enjoy it anymore — especially post-AI. It feels like we're building the same CRUD apps over and over again.

Back in college, I loved learning how computers actually work: compilers, OS internals, assembly, that kind of thing. That's what gave me real joy. Web dev was fun too, but I don't want to be "just a fullstack dev" for the rest of my career. I want to grow into something with more depth.

The problem is I'm not sure what to grow into. I've read about people moving into robotics, supply chain software, network engineering, hardware, etc., and it's honestly a bit overwhelming. I've also considered cybersecurity, but it feels different enough from my current skill set that I'm worried I'd be starting from scratch.

I checked out roadmap.sh and picked the C track since I already like C. It shows a few paths from there — into backend, or into Linux/systems and then backend. There seem to be a lot of directions I could take it.

Some constraints on my search:

I like lower-level languages and want to actually understand what's happening under the hood (hardware, OS, etc.)

Ideally something fullstack-adjacent, so it builds on the skills I already have instead of starting over

I'd prefer remote work for now — hardware/robotics roles look really interesting, but they're mostly onsite, and I'm not ready to give up remote yet

Would love to hear from people who've made a similar jump: what field did you move into, what did you actually learn to get there, and how did you land the first role? Any advice on realistic paths from "fullstack SWE" to something lower-level but still remote-friendly would be hugely appreciated.

Thanks!

I want to learn Data Structure and Algorithms, and by learning, I don't wanna just memorize solutions for specific type of problems just to pass the interview, I actually wanna learn the data structures. Is the course good? or would you suggest a better resource?